How Do You Know
by SoloRogueStudios
Summary: Just another day at Beacon, but some of the students seem a little...off.


How Do You Know

* * *

Ruby

It was a typical Saturday morning at Beacon Academy. The campus was filled with the sounds of students enjoying various leisurely activities, not particularly worried about anything as they relished the arrival of the weekend. One exception to these students was a young girl, younger the other first years anyway, in a hooded red cape. This girl was Ruby Rose. Ruby walked frantically down the hallway, her mind in a complete panic. She had been stressing out since breakfast about a History paper due in Professor Oobleck's class on Monday that she hadn't even started. She continued to walk down the hall until she spotted her sister Yang approaching, easily noticed due to her flowing blonde hair.

"Yang! Yang! Yaaang!" the young girl called frantically.

Yang took notice of the pleading voice calling out her name. "Oh…uh…hey sis. What's up?"

"Yang, you've gotta help me! I've got that paper due in Oobleck's class on Monday and I haven't even started working on it yet! Heeelp!"

"Easy there little sister. I'd help you out but I'm…on my way to the training arena sooo…gotta go see ya." the older sibling replied nervously.

"But wait please, I don't know what I'm doing!" screamed Ruby.

"Well…maybe you should pay more attention in class, aaand maybe you should start doing your homework on your own and, uh, keeping better track of it." Yang replied awkwardly as she began to take off down the hallway.

"You always tell me to be responsible when it's most inconvenient for me!" Ruby yelled after her.

Having nothing better to do, Ruby hurriedly walked to their dorm-room to get started on her paper. She had just finished gathering her textbook and notes when suddenly Yang walked in.

"I thought you were going to the training arena." Ruby wondered aloud to her sister.

"I was but I forgot some explosive shells and my training gloves." said Yang as she picked up some strips of red shotgun shells and a pair of yellow boxing gloves that said BURN across the back.

"Maybe you should be more responsible and keep better track of your stuff." Ruby said, almost to herself.

"What?" asked Yang, not really paying attention.

"Nothing."

"Well, ok." Yang said as she turned to leave. "Oh, and is that Oobleck's paper? I'll help you out when I get back."

"Ugh. I'll never get you sometimes, make up your mind. But thanks Yang." Ruby said to herself.

* * *

Yang

Team RWBY's blonde brawler had just finished her intense training session and was now pacing down the halls of Beacon's upper floors.

"I can't believe those pansies, and they're supposed to be Huntsmen in training." Yang joked to herself as she remembered some boys she had utterly crushed in an MMA tourney that got going in the training arena, including a couple of third years.

She continued searching the academy for her partner Blake for some help with Ruby's paper. If anyone would be able to help it would be the team's biggest bookworm. She eventually made her way to the library wondering why she didn't check there to begin with. She found the brunette Faunus girl sitting at a table reading, her cat ears hidden as usual beneath a black bow.

"Hey Kitty-Cat, what's up?" Yang said in her usual brash demeanor.

"Kitty-Cat? I don't appreciate that. And keep quiet will you, this is a library." came the cat-girl's reply.

"Sheesh, sorry." said Yang, now whispering. "Anyway, Ruby's got a paper to write and needs a hand. Think you can help us out?"

Blake simply rolled her eyes. "I'm actually trying to finish this book today, besides shouldn't your sister do her own work?"

"C'mon, don't be like that. And you're not even almost done." said Yang, noting that the book was only half finished.

"Yes, exactly." stated Blake bluntly.

"Ok, ok. Touchy, touchy. Remind me not to bother you while you're reading again." Yang said as she got up and left.

"I guess I'll just try to find Weiss and see if she'll help." Yang muttered as she left the library.

* * *

Jaune

Jaune walked around Beacon campus without a care in the world. The aloof blonde boy had had a rough week swamped with work so, other than a short workout earlier that morning, he just wanted to kick back and relax today. He was enjoying his lazy walk when he noticed a girl with bunny-ears out of the corner of his eye. He thought back to her getting bullied by Cardin Winchester and his team in the lunch room a while back and no one had helped her. Recently she had gotten support from her own team but as a fellow victim of Cardin's harassment Jaune felt he should do more to help.

"Hey." Jaune called causing the young Faunus girl to look up. "It's Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina right?"

"Yes, did you need something?" she replied.

"I noticed you were getting harassed by Team CRDL and I know your team's been helping you out but, I just wanted to tell you that you can count on my team, JNPR, and Team RWBY so feel free to ask."

"Oh, ok, well thanks Jaune." Velvet said as she kept moving along.

"Well, there's my good deed for the day." said Jaune to himself as he walked off.

* * *

Weiss

The white-haired heiress of the Schnee family searched the campus high and low looking for a certain rabbit-eared Faunus. She had been feeling bad about the whole incident with Blake a while back. It had shown her that not all Faunus were bad or necessarily members of the White Fang. Her discriminatory behavior had made feel horrible and she was looking to make amends starting with the shy, bullied young Velvet. Spotting her mark out in one of the gardens, Weiss made her way over to her.

"Excuse me, Velvet can I talk to you?"

"Oh, hello Weiss. Need something?" the girl replied.

"Yes, I wanted to apologize, both for my inappropriately low opinion of the Faunus and for standing by and doing nothing as I watched you get picked on by Team CRDL. If you ever need help dealing with them, just ask."

"Oh, thank you Weiss. It means a lot."

"Friends?" asked Weiss as she extended her hand.

"Friends." said Velvet shaking Weiss's hand before the two girls parted ways.

"I did a good thing today." said Weiss as she walked along. "Oh shoot, I totally forgot to-" she started until she spotted Velvet in a nearby courtyard. "How'd she get there so fast? Oh well."

Weiss hurriedly walked up to Velvet as she took notice of the approaching heiress.

"Oh…um…hello Weiss. D-did you need something?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, I completely forgot. You're a Dust Caster right?" Weiss asked, earning a nod from the girl. "Well would you like to practice with me sometime? I don't have any other Casters on my team."

"S-sure thing. Thanks for asking, I've been needing a training partner myself." Velvet replied.

"Great, thank you. Well, gotta go. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow." Weiss said, walking off. "Wow, so nervous. That girl really is troubled. All the more reason why she needs friends to support her."

Weiss started to head back towards the dorms until she was approached by Yang.

"Hey Weiss, think you can help me and Ruby out with her History paper?" she asked.

"What!? I told her to start it early!" Weiss raged. "Fine. Let's go."

"Thanks. I tried to ask Blake earlier but she was pretty intent on finishing some book."

"A book? Wasn't Blake going into town with that Sun fellow today?" questioned the heiress.

"Oh yeah. Huh. Maybe that's why she was all defensive and grumpy about it." wondered Yang as the two girls continued towards the dorms.

* * *

Jaune

Jaune was walking along having just enjoyed a brief nap on a campus bench. Everything was going fine until Cardin walked by and shoved Jaune to the floor.

"Hey." Jaune said as he got up. "Hey! Cardin!"

"You say something? What do you want loser?" he said smugly.

"What did I tell you about messing with me and my friends, or did you forget who saved you from an Ursa Major in Forever Fall!?" Jaune yelled as he got right in Cardin's face.

Cardin immediately backed off with his hands raised in front of him. "Ok ok, sorry there buddy."

"And don't even start with that 'Buddy' crap again. And be nicer to Velvet Scarlatina, my friends and I and her team all have her back now." Jaune on as Cardin walked away still nodding his head frantically.

With that settled, Jaune could finally go back to enjoying his day. Relaxing. Not a care in the world.

"Oh crap! I totally forgot I have training with Pyrrha!"

* * *

Pyrrha

Pyrrha Nikos was many things. She was strong, intelligent, friendly, and beautiful. Her patience however was something that ran thin when her partner was over fifteen minutes late to their training session. So here she was heading towards her dorm when she spotted the one person she happened to be looking for.

"Jaune, there you are." she said approaching him. "Where have you been? I was starting to get worried."

"Who me? I've been fine, no need to worry about me." he replied awkwardly.

"Jaune, you haven't been getting harassed by Cardin again have you?"

"Cardin!? No way! You know I got over that in Forever Fall. I told you didn't I? Y'know, the thing with the Ursa Major."

"Hm, true." Pyrrha replied.

"Yeah, he tried being a jerk to me again just now, I told him off. I even went and talked to Velvet about him earlier today." boasted Jaune.

"Velvet? Why? Oh god you weren't trying to flirt with the poor girl were you?"

"W-what!? Of course not. I-I mean, why would I flirt with her when I have you, right Angel Face?"

Pyrrha simply stared at him blankly. "Are you feeling alright Jaune?"

"Absolutely, how 'bout you Gorgeous?" he replied with the "smooth" tone he was known to use when trying to make a first impression on an attractive girl.

Pyrrha placed her hand on his forehead before speaking. "You don't feel feverish, and you look fine."

"What's with you? I start hitting on a good lookin' girl like you and you think I'm sick?" he said shaking off her hand.

"Well it's just, you haven't tried blatantly flirting with me since before our Initiation in the Emerald Forest. And you're also late for our training session today. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Um…yeah…you got me. The flirting was to try and uh, distract you…from my lateness, y'know." Jaune said nervously.

"Oh…and the things about Cardin and Velvet?"

"Same, but those actually happened. And I did good too, I uh…told her we'd help her out…if Cardin ever gave her trouble again. Y'know, I hoped you'd like to hear that I uh…did something…nice for her." he responded while practically sweating.

"Well you certainly succeeded in distracting me. Just hurry up and meet me at the training arena." she said as she turned to leave. "Oh and Jaune. It was very kind of you to be the first of us to offer Velvet help like that. I'm proud of you."

Pyrrha eventually got back to the training arena only to be impressed that Jaune had gotten there first.

"Wow, you got here fast." she said, shocked.

"Yeah, sorry I made you go looking for me I-"

"Later, we've wasted enough time." she said readying Miló and Akoúo for battle. "So, are you ready?"

Jaune smirked and drew Crocea Mors. "Ready when you are."

* * *

Nora

Nora Valkyrie was absolutely giddy, like she was all the time. She couldn't wait to get back to her dorm to tell her best friend Ren all about the zany adventures she had in Vale that day. She went shopping and ransacked a night-club full filled with mafia and got ice cream and bothered Blake and her Monkey Faunus boyfriend, was he her boyfriend, when she saw them. Naturally this meant that when she saw Ren outside the dorm-room door she became ecstatic.

"Ooh, Ren Ren Ren! I have a story to tell you, no no no, lots of stories to tell you!" Nora yelled exuberantly.

"Nora, I really don't have the time right now. I'm kinda busy." Ren replied in his usual flat tone.

"Busy with what?"

"I uh, can't tell, it's um, a secret."

"Ooh, I LOVE secrets. What KIND of secret, you can tell me right Ren, what is this secret thing you have to do?" she asked with a giant grin on her face.

"I can't tell anyone, not even you Nora." said Ren curtly as he walked away.

Nora just stopped completely before she broke down crying on the spot. "W-well…you're stupid and I don't like you anymore Lie Ren!" she yelled as she ran into the dorm and slammed the door.

Nora laid face down on her bed sobbing for quite some time. How could Ren have a secret that he couldn't tell her? She stayed like that for about ten minutes until Ren walked in the door, a plate with a huge stack of pancakes in each hand. Nora perked up immediately, the tears practically sucking themselves back into her eyes.

"*GASP* So that's where you went. PANCAKES!" she squeed.

Ren simply looked on, not surprised at all by his best friend's bizarre antics. "Took me a while to convince the cafeteria staff to let me make them in their kitchen."

Nora smiled wide enough to almost split her face in half. "Ren, I love you." Ren's eye twitched slightly upon hearing this. "As a friend…of course." she added hurriedly, denying any proof that she had romantic feelings for the boy. "Now LET'S EAT!" she yelled as she lunged forward.

"Wait Nora you'll spill them on the floor, hold on, stop."

"Ren! There's syrup EVERYWHERE!"

"NORA!"

* * *

Professor Port

Professor Port made his way to the Staff Lounge as he stroked his majestic mustache. He had had a productive yet enjoyable day. He had finished all of his grading for his Grimm Studies class and he had even had time to go on a hunt in the Emerald Forest. He finally reached the lounge and opened the door to find Professor Oobleck sitting leisurely at his desk.

"Ah, Barty, good to see you!" Port said jubilantly.

"Oh Professor Port, yes yes very good to see you too." he said fairly quickly.

"Mmm, you seem a lot less energetic than usual. You alright?"

"Oh yes, perfectly fine. I just ran out of coffee part of the way through the day, not as much made in here on Saturdays and all." he answered sluggishly.

"Ah, I see. This is why I choose not to rely on such things. I start my day with a nice tall glass of youthful energy, ha-ha! You see, now your day ends up slow and boring."

"And what about you? How was your day?"

"Excellent! All of my grading is done and I went to Emerald Forest to have myself a good Grimm Hunt! No Deathstalkers unfortunately but I managed to find a pack of Beowolves and even a couple of Ursa Majors! Child's play for me of course HA-HA-HA!" he replied bombastically.

"Sounds like fun. Well, I really must be going, I think I'll turn in early today." Oobleck said as he got up from his desk and walked to the door.

"It was fun! You really should join me sometime Bartholomew!"

"Um…I'll think about it."

"Very well. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"I will, thank you."

* * *

Professor Goodwitch

Glynda Goodwitch found herself at peace at this late hour of the day. It was now, in the evening, that things finally started to settle down around Beacon, especially on weekends. The evening meant no more mischief-making students to scold and no more extra help to give students in the training arena. It meant no more grading and no more trying to keep up with Professor Oobleck's chaotic, caffeine-fueled self. No more checking the status of Grimm activity or spotting Professor Port to make sure he doesn't arrogantly bite off more than he could chew hunting them. Yes, the evening was truly peaceful.

Despite what her appearance and professionalism might have you believe, Professor Goodwitch was far from an uptight woman. But how could she not have to be when every other minute something was happening that demanded her presence. This problem was compounded by the fact that she was on her own recently. Indeed Professor Ozpin had been away in Atlas for meetings the entire week leaving her to run the school by herself, not that she didn't feel like she did that already. So who should she find when walking into the Headmaster's office but the man himself sitting at his desk.

"Oh, Professor Ozpin. I didn't realize you were back."

"Yes well, I did just arrive a few minutes ago." he replied in semi-joking manner.

Everyone knew that Ozpin had a habit of coming and going without warning and generally doing as he pleased so this wasn't surprising. "Well I'm glad you're finally back, it means this next week should be a bit easier for me."

"Rough week I take it?"

"Oh it was how it usually is when you're away. It's just a nightmare trying to run this place without proper help. God I wish they would just hold these meetings in the Summer."

"Indeed." Ozpin replied with the usual smirk on his face.

"Well, I just came to drop off these files." Goodwitch said putting some papers on his desk. "I'm off to spend the rest of my day relaxing."

"Have a good evening." he said as she headed for the door. "Oh, Professor Goodwitch would you mind getting me some coffee before you turn in for the day?"

Goodwitch stopped at the door and narrowed her eyes warily. "Of course, I'll be right back." she said as she suddenly turned around, drew her riding crop, and bound the Headmaster in the air with a flurry of Dust shots in one swift motion. She pulled him through the air and held him in the center of the room.

"Professor Goodwitch! What is the meaning of this!?"

"Cut the crap! I know you're not the real Professor Ozpin so why don't you show me who you really are?"

Ozpin smirked deviously. "Not bad, you're more perceptive than most." he said as his appearance slowly changed completely in a glowing light.

In his place floated a man with snow-white hair and gray eyes. He wore a black bodysuit and a bandolier covered in various compressed weapons.

"Looks like you got me." the strange man said.

"I don't know how you got in here but you were a fool to think you could trick me for long." said Goodwitch curtly.

"Guess I got cocky. I am curious though, how DID you know I wasn't the real deal?"

She responded by slashing a wave of Dust across his head with her riding crop causing him to fall to the floor unconscious. She then took out her Scroll and sent a message to Professor Port saying she needed him in Ozpin's office to take an intruder down to interrogation. As she passed over the man's unconscious body she decided to humor his last question.

"Professor Ozpin never drinks coffee in the evening, always tea." she said flatly. "And when we're alone, he calls me Glynda."

* * *

**All of that work for a ship tease at the end. That final scene is literally how this whole thing started. I'm going to post some epilogue stuff explaining who this mysterious OC is but for now I'm just really glad to get this posted. Anyway, please review and I hope you enjoyed it. **

**-Solo **


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